I never realized how much my DJ’ing is affected by the events in my life. I always thought that when inspiration struck, it struck, and a mix idea would automagically appear in my head. Either that or an abundance of new music would create in me a burning desire to throw a mix down.
Looking back on it, though, I see that at least in recent years, the mixes I’ve released typically coincide with some significant life event. The last two years (2014 and 2015) were particularly tumultuous for me, apparently, as I have released 20 mixes in that span. That’s almost one a month for those of you who can’t do the math.
So it’s been a bit difficult for me to wrap my mind around the fact that I just haven’t been able to put one together. I’ve hit a block of sorts, and it wasn’t until I really thought about it that I realized that I’m in a good place personally. I have a stable relationship. I have a solid circle of friends who I trust. I have a new direction for my life professionally. For once, the future looks bright and there’s a pretty clear direction.
I didn’t realize how badly my DJ’ing was suffering until I missed my annual Valentine’s Day release. I had a concept. I had a track listing. But I just couldn’t get it to sound right no matter what I did. I think I was trying to be too cute with the mix. I won’t spill the details on the concept, (as I may revisit it in the future), but it would have been amazing had I pulled it off.
There’s a concept in baseball about breaking out of a hitting slump. When you’re not hitting, it’s typically because you’re pressing and trying to do too much. Eventually, you get in your own head about it, and before you know it, you find yourself mired in an even deeper hole. To start hitting again, you have to stop trying to do too many things and just go back to the basics. You have to find those things that worked for you to begin with and just do those.
So that’s what I did.
At first I thought the answer would be in Trance. After all, I did cut my teeth on Alice Deejay and Kernkraft. But I tried to put together an EDM mix, and that just didn’t work. So I went to my old standby – 90’s hip hop. But I’ve burned most of the tracks that I want to mix, and frankly, I just wasn’t feeling it. Bboy tracks just weren’t cutting it either. I just couldn’t figure out the problem.
And then it hit me.
The reason I first wanted to DJ – my first exposure to the idea of remixology – was Guam’s party music. Most of you won’t appreciate this mix. Of those of you on this distro, only a handful will actually download it. Those of you who do, however, will find a mixture of New Wave, Cha Cha, and Freestyle that comprised my musical tastes growing up. Listening to this mix brings me back to the island where I grew up and the songs the local DJ’s used to play. Man do I miss it sometimes. It’s a bit shorter than my recent mixes, and perhaps a bit rough in spots, but that’s to be expected when you’re trying to break a slump. Baby steps, right?
So here goes. Here’s hoping that this is just the jump start I needed to get back into a groove.
Enjoy the mix!
-9Volt
3/22/2016
Track Listing
1. Marcia Griffiths – Electric Slide
2. Erasure – A Little Respect
3. When In Rome – The Promise
4. Erasure – Chains of Love
5. Erasure – Always
6. OMD – If You Leave
7. New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle
8. Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence
9. Human League – Don’t You Want Me Baby
10. David Bowie – Let’s Dance
11. Debarge – Rhythm of the Night
12. Gloria Estefan – Conga
13. Genuine Parts – Did it Feel Like Love
14. Secret Ties – Dancing In My Sleep
15. Cast of Cats – Memory (Cha Cha Remix)
16. Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam – Lost in Emotion
17. Tom Tom Club – Under the Boardwalk
18. David Lee Evans – Don’t Blame it on the Cha Cha Cha
19. Krush – Let Me Take You to the Mountain
20. Angelina – Release Me
21. Rockell – In a Dream
22. Alphaville – Forever Young (Dance Remix)
23. Corina – Summertime Summertime
24. Jocelyn Enriquez – Do You Miss Me
25. The Mana’o Company – Drop Baby Drop